Police fear the increasingly anti-cop climate across the United States will lead to a nationwide shortage of officers – but some departments have seen a huge spike in applications.

Animosity towards police officers and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement was fueled by the killing of black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, almost two years ago.

Killings of two black men by police officers earlier this month – Alton Sterling and Philando Castile – further stoked the discord and led to a black Army veteran opening fire during a Black Lives Matter protest in Dallas, killing five officers and wounding a further nine.

The attack was followed by another targeted assault on officers – this time in Baton Rouge – less than two weeks later on July 17.

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Police fear the increasingly anti-cop climate across the US will lead to a nationwide shortage of officers – but some departments have seen a spike in applications. Dallas police chief David Brown (above) urged those who protested police shooting to apply for jobs in his department– and applications rocketed

After the Dallas attack, the city’s police chief David Brown – a black man – urged those who protested police shooting to apply for jobs in his department ‘to be part of the solution’ – and applications rocketed.

But some experts say the spike in applications in Dallas and some other cities are exceptions – and that generally, people will view law enforcement as too dangerous a career to pursue.

‘The job is inherently dangerous and that is generally understood and accepted,’ Matthew Thomas, a special operations commander for the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office in Arizona told FoxNews.com.

‘However, the general social acceptance of hate and violence toward any and all law enforcement recently has created such an unpredictable and uncontrollable threat to our lives, many feel it is not a good career to be involved in.’

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Tom Jackson, the former police chief in Ferguson, Missouri, believes the recent killings of police officers will ‘badly’ hurt recruitment.

‘How can you convince people to come to the profession, or stay in the profession, when hundreds of people are in front of them threatening to rape their grandkids?’ he told Fox.

Jackson, who resigned last year, said after seeing so many officers be killed in the line of duty recently, families will beg their loved ones to quit the profession or not sign up.

He added that the police department in Ferguson remains 17 officers short – dropping from 55 when he was police chief to 38.

‘They’re overworked and it is even less safe for them now.’

His words are backed up by statistics – a report revealed that the shooting deaths of law enforcement officers have spiked 78 percent in the first half of 2016 compared to last year.

Tom Jackson (pictured in August last year, the former police chief in Ferguson, Missouri, believes the recent killings of police officers will ‘badly’ hurt recruitment

The shooting deaths of law enforcement officers have spiked 78 percent in the first half of 2016 compared to last year - but are still lower than they were during previous decades like the 1970s

The figures include an alarming increase in ambush-style assaults like the ones that killed eight officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge.

Thirty-two officers died in firearms-related incidents so far this year including 14 that were ambush-style attacks, according to the report released on Wednesday.

During the same period last year, 18 officers were shot and killed in the line of duty including three that were considered ambush attacks.

But the data, from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund shows that firearms-related deaths of officers in the line of duty are still lower than they were during previous decades like the 1970s.

How can you convince people to come to the profession... when hundreds of people are in front of them threatening to rape their grandkids?

Tom Jackson, the former police chief in Ferguson, Missouri

Despite this, the Dallas Police Department said job applications to the force have more than quadrupled since the sniper attack on July 7.

Last week, the department revealed that 467 applications were received in the 12 days after the shootings – an average of 38.9 a day.

The figure is a 344 per cent increase to a comparable period in June. During that period, the department only received 136 applications, averaging 11.3 a day.

Other departments, including in Denver, Las Vegas and Orange County, California, have seen a more modest increase in applications, according to Fox.

But in others, there’s been a sharp drop.

Examples include St Paul, Minnesota, where 32-year-old Philando Castile was shot by a police officer during a routine traffic stop on July 6.

The gruesome aftermath of his killing was live streamed on Facebook by his girlfriend Diamond Reynolds, who was in the car at the time – along with her four-year-old daughter.

The department said it has only received 399 applications this year, with 240 ultimately placed on a hiring list for consideration.

Two years earlier, the department had received 796 applications and 431 were placed on the hiring list, a spokesman told Fox.

It’s a similar situation in Baltimore, a city that was rocked by its worst riots in decades after the death of Freddie Gray – where the police force is down by six per cent.

Gray died a week after his neck was broken while he was left handcuffed and shackled, but unrestrained in the back of a police van.

Montrell Jackson (pictured right) addressed the difficulties of being both a black man and a police officer just days before his death in Baton Rouge on July 17

Six officers were charged in his death, three were acquitted and a fourth officer’s case resulted a mistrial.

The three remaining officers awaiting trial had their charges dropped by prosecutors on Wednesday, who cited a biased investigation by police.

One officer cited the ‘thankless’ nature of the job as the reason for his retirement – while the low salary could also hinder be hindering recruitment.

The average annual wage for a police officer across the country is only $61,270, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, but in some states, the salary is as low as $33, 430,

And one of the cops gunned down in the ambush at a gas station in Baton Rouge addressed the difficulties of being both a black man and a police officer just days before his death.

Montrell Jackson, one of three officers killed in the attack, wrote on Facebook: ‘I swear to God I love this city, but I wonder if this city loves me.

‘In uniform I get nasty hateful looks and out of uniform some consider me a threat. I’ve experienced so much in my short life and these last three days have tested me to the core.’